Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Language of Flowers

photo credit: Mammaoca2008 via photopin cc

Speak to me
in the language of flowers:
sensitive to the nuances
of soil, moisture,
climatic fluctuation
and response.

Look beneath my surface,
for what is there,
waiting to be discovered.
Part the fulsome  greenery,
gently,
and find the bud
in the place
I keep most hidden.

The blooms of our two lives
are heavy-laden,
heads tipped and toppling,
nodding in the breeze.
From underneath
their most precarious weight,
our hands emerge,
as tentative
as leaves.

Speak to me
in the language of flowers,
if you care to understand,
and perhaps,
somehow,
my heart
will find   an answer.


At Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads, Kerry set us to writing about the language of flowers, a topic that speaks to me this morning. I did recycle the concept of "the blooms of our two lives" from an old 1980's poem, but it is a new write. Not as good as the 1980's version though. Nor am I. Hee hee.

32 comments:

  1. A talk with nature will help us feel and understand it better.

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  2. I love this so much, Sherry. Your opening line is just amazing, and the whole poem has a cyclic feel of growth and renewal which takes it to a metaphoric level. This is something special.

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  3. As an avid gardener (my first two published books were on gardening and horticulture) this piece speaks to me, loud, clear, true. Feels like blooming, developing are just ahead.

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  4. ooohhh lovely and the word "fulsome" is just perfect.

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  5. SO passionate, Sherry!! Speaking in the tongue of the flora! Beautiful.

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  6. Sherry - I find this to be very sensuous! I love your use of poem as metaphor!

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  7. Wow. You've still got what it takes!
    K

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  8. Very beautiful, evoking youth, evoking age, and color, mystery, sensuality, trust ....

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  9. so, Sherry, you're saying your badder now? :)

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  10. Oh my gosh Sherry, this is so beautiful. Your opening is simply breathtaking.

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  11. Ooooh Sherry this is quite sensuous ...

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  12. Love this, Sherry. There is much to be said for the language of flowers!!

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  13. Sounds very light and sublimely...nice.

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  14. Beautiful and so hopeful~ I love the enchantment in your verse~

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  15. "Find the bud in the place I keep most hidden..." This is intimate, beautiful writing, Sherry. You did the prompt proud! Amy

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  16. that magical hidden bud. . . root. . . .


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    =^..^=

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  17. I love this poem and how it speaks of long- lived love. I especially like- our hands emerge tentative as leaves.

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  18. This reminds me of a formal but graceful dance step, with hands joined. Lovely, Sherry.

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  19. I love it Sherry ~ Brought a lovely smile while reading it ~

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  20. I find this to be utterly sensitive and softly wise. It is tender and still full of hope. I love it. The whole last paragraph is breathtaking and I adore "Part the fulsome greenery,
    gently,
    and find the bud
    in the place
    I keep most hidden."

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  21. Well done Sherry. It gave me a good feeling--of peace and acceptance.

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  22. smiles...very nice...i like how you use the flower to speak of your relationship...the heaviness and hands as leaves...i like that...and the desire to look beneath the surface, now that is love...smiles.

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  23. i don't know about the old poem, but this one is wonderful. Flowers are so close to being ethereal, close to heaven and honest, like you.

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  24. This is just a lovely poem, Sherry. Much enjoyed. Karin (of Manicddaily)

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  25. Oh Sherry you always speak in the language of flowers.....I shall remain ever grateful to you for your comforting words on my father's demise......each word of the poem is like honeyed flower......it's beautiful and unique.....like you :)

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  26. I love your langue of flowers,...or is it the language of love, I am flower?

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  27. Lovely words Sherry. If they care to understand people will find the words.

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  28. This is lovely Sherry! Especially the closing--such a nuanced piece--makes me want to see your original---

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  29. That is very sweet; written with the utmost sensitivity. :-)
    -HA

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  30. This puts me in mind of an English garden in a way. Very soft & delicate & warm. Beautiful! :)

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  31. Ah, Sherry, this is so lovely. The language of flowers...surely it is the sweetest and loveliest. :)

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